Caroline2, the science in the curcumin link that mrsD provided looks good to me.

More pragmatically (you said that your neighbour does not have much money), curcumin is cheap and it could well help with her RA.

Curcumin is not as "cheap" as you would think.

If one chooses turmeric it can be very cheap...but this form is not absorbed well. The studies were done with optimized (solubilized using liposomal technology) curcumin. So the results in those studies are very positive.

LongVida used to be $60+ dollars a month. But now that they have licensed out to other makers, it can be done for about 15 a month. The 400mg Curcubrain is on Amazon for $22.94/50... one needs only one a day of this type.

This is a very nice drop in price for quality. So price is not always a factor for some items. This is also true for the new water soluble CoQ-10's. The Q-gel and Qunol are very good improvements on this item which has terrible solubility in its original free form.

There are thousands of papers now on PubMed concerning curcumin... over 3000, last time I looked.

Re. Tumeric
--I have both OA and RA and have been instructed to use Tumeric. I have been using an organic powder/spice form that I just sprinkle on my hard boiled eggs, avocado and tomato in the morning. Would this form be comparable to a tablet form?

The fat in the avocado may help absorption some....but tumeric that is "raw" and not solubilized somehow, is just not absorbed much. It will remain mostly in the GI tract and may provide some local anti-inflammatory actions there.

The studies that were done showing promise for body inflammation used specially optimized curcumin to enhance absorption thru the GI tract and into the blood stream.

My thinking is sprinkles are not much in dose I have a swansons turmeric phytosome with meriva and each cap is 500mg, I take one per day for sure. Also have a weaker turmeric that is 720mg per cap and says 2 per day. both from swansons. I make soups at least once a week, and pour 2 caps of turmeric in my soup.

Thanks Mrs. D,
for your information and response.
I bought this product from WalMart: Spring Valley, Turmeric Curcumin. 500 mg. It comes in gel capsule. Facts,: Turmeric 500 mg (Curcuma longa) (root) Other ingredients: Gelatin,Contains < 2% of Silica, Vegetable, Magnesium Sterate.
__No: gluten Yeast, Wheat,Milk or milk derivatives,Lactose,Sugar,Perservatives,Soy,Artifi cial color, artificial flavor, Sodium,(less than 5 mg per serving.)

I want to ask you if this is an OK Turmeric supplement.
--Thank you

This is not an optimized product.... it is probably just going to stay in your GI tract and be move out with the stool.

The active curcumin is not soluble in water environments... so one has to use an optimized produce like was used in the recent medical studies.

If you type in "optimized curcumin" you'll find those products.

I use CurcuBrain by NOW.... and it is working for me some. Not spectacularly yet, but then that will take time I think. I get mine at Amazon. I don't think many stores have the newer more soluble products yet.

I've been taking MSM powder for a lot of years, heard about it from a person on the roadback group who deals with RA and he takes higher doses of MSM for pain reduction. I take most days 1 tsp three times per day in spring or distilled water. I can feel the pain leave my body as I drink it down.

My neighbor who has very limited funds now reluctantly is injecting with Orencia and pointed to her head where she is losing so much of her beautiful curly hair.

MSM has worked for me for a lot of years and I continue with it....when I start to hurt more I know it's time for a tsp of MSM.

My major issue is Osteoarthritis but recent blood work showed RA factor. C